Abstract

Cu2O p-type semiconductor hollow porous microspheres have been prepared by using a simple
soft-template method at room temperature. The morphology of as-synthesized samples
is hollow spherical structures with the diameter ranging from 200 to 500 nm, and the
surfaces of the spheres are rough, porous and with lots of channels and folds. The
photocatalytic activity of degradation of methyl orange (MO) under visible light irradiation
was investigated by UV-visible spectroscopy. The results show that the hollow porous
Cu2O particles were uniform in diameters and have an excellent ability in visible light-induced
degradation of MO. Meanwhile, the growth mechanism of the prepared Cu2O was also analyzed. We find that sodium dodecyl sulfate acted the role of soft templates
in the synthesis process. The hollow porous structure was not only sensitive to the
soft template but also to the amount of reagents.